Zelensky prepares for Oslo talks with US envoys as Rubio denies withholding intelligence

Key points

• US envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Norway ahead of talks with Zelensky and European allies.
• Rubio denied that the US was deliberately withholding intelligence from Ukraine.
• Trump has said it is time for Ukraine to get a new president.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff has arrived in Norway ahead of talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as relations between Zelensky and US President Donald Trump continue to worsen. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said Zelensky asked Oslo and neighbouring Finland to organise the meeting with the US and European allies "at a critical time for Ukraine".

Støre said the aim of the Oslo talks was to move relations onto "a more constructive path" and to secure a diplomatic end to the war with a lasting and just peace.

Rubio rejects intelligence claims

Before the meeting, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called accusations that Ukrainians were dying because the US was withholding intelligence "scandalous" and "outrageous". He was responding to Zelensky's military technical adviser, Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov, who told the BBC that the lack of reliable US warnings meant lives were being lost.

Rubio, on a visit to India, said it may be true that Patriot interceptor missiles had not yet arrived in Ukraine, but that nothing had been denied to Kyiv intentionally. Zelensky said he had held a "constructive discussion" with Rubio about US early warnings, missile interceptors and SpaceX's Starlink network.

This looks very strange. Sometimes we receive this information before the attack, another time we [do] not.

— Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov

Who is attending

Witkoff is expected to be joined by video-link by Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and by European representatives, including Finnish President Alexander Stubb and officials from the UK, Poland, France and Germany, as well as the EU and Nato. It is not yet clear whether Witkoff will travel on to Russia, though Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he hoped a meeting could be organised soon.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke of "mixed pictures and messages" on the war and said the US had not been paying for Ukraine's defence since the start of 2025. Vice-President JD Vance said Kyiv was "certainly a partner in some ways" but that the US had no formal alliance with Ukraine.